


Three Times

by Aeriel



Category: The Chronicles of Chrestomanci - Diana Wynne Jones
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Future Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-25
Updated: 2015-12-25
Packaged: 2018-05-08 20:28:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5512022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aeriel/pseuds/Aeriel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"You mean… I've nearly summoned you?" Marianne looked startled, then laughed. "Maybe I should."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Three Times

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thenewradical](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thenewradical/gifts).



Cat hadn't even realized he'd fallen asleep until he woke, suddenly, to Marianne's hand on his shoulder.  
  
"You look terrible," Marianne said, not unkindly.  
  
Cat yawned. "I was summoned somewhere it wasn't the middle of the night. Two boys somehow managed to curse themselves invisible."  
  
Marianne stroked Cat's hair, which felt nice. "But once you had it sorted, couldn't you come to bed? Even Chrestomanci needs to sleep more than three hours at a time."  
  
"I meant to," Cat said truthfully. "Only it was almost daybreak, and I didn't want to wake you too. So I thought I should try and read more about curses, but…"  
  
"You fell asleep," Marianne finished, and sighed. "You know, you're perfectly brilliant as you are, Cat. You really don't need to be working so hard all the time."  
  
Cat snorted. "I've seen you fall asleep on _Theory of Vedanga_ at least three times in the last week."  
  
"But I _enjoy_ reading about theory," Marianne pointed out. "Besides, I'm working on a project."  
  
"A project?" It was the first Cat had heard of it.  
  
Marianne smiled. "I'll tell you about it if it works out."  
  
Cat smiled back. "All right." He didn't mind Marianne having her own secrets now and then, especially since they often resulted in marvelously detailed enchantments not quite like anyone else's. "You never did show me how you made that bird you sent me."

Marianne had been away on Cat's birthday, caught up in a mild magical disturbance near Caprona. While he'd been going through official requests for Chrestomanci's aid and trying not to mope, a bird had flown through the window, chirped a four note melody and, once he touched its little papery head, unfolded into a letter from Marianne.

No one ever used to do things like that for Cat.  
  
"I didn't?" Marianne leaned against Cat's desk, her skirts brushing against his leg. "I know I have the diagrams in one of my journals, but I suppose I only did use it the once."  
  
"The once?" Cat repeated, surprised.  
  
"It was always meant to cheer you up, you know." Her cheeks went pink.  
  
"It was beautiful," Cat said, because he couldn't think of anything else to express how moved he was.  
  
Marianne smiled, and nudged his leg playfully. "If you want the spell, it's yours too, _Chrestomanci."_  
  
Cat snorted again. "It feels strange when you call me that."  
  
"I'm going to have to, sometimes," Marianne reminded him.  
  
"No, I mean, I can actually _feel_ it." Cat frowned, trying to think of a way to describe the odd sort of tension in the back of his mind. "You've said it twice now, I think that's why."  
  
"You mean… I've nearly summoned you?" Marianne looked startled, then laughed. "Maybe I should."  
  
"Why?" Cat was genuinely puzzled. "I'm already here." He took Marianne's hands in his. "I _like_ being here."

Marianne smiled and squeezed his hands. "And I like your being here. That's part of why I'm curious, Chres--"

Cat cut her off with a kiss, which Marianne didn't seem to mind at all.

"What I _don't_ like," Marianne murmured, absently enchanting the wrinkles out of Cat's vest with one hand, "is seeing you get nearly swallowed up by duties. Especially when it's things that hardly deserve your full attention."

"I'm still figuring it all out, that's all." Cat didn't mean to say it defensively, but he felt very tired all of a sudden.

"I know. So am I, really." Marianne smiled. "But I _do_ remember a few things about the rules your summoning spell has to follow."

Now Cat was interested. "Rules?"

"Well, it would be a problem if someone called for you at the same time as someone else, wouldn't it? And think of how absurd it could get, two groups summoning you back and forth over and over!" Cat laughed out loud at the thought, which made Marianne's smile widen. "That's why the spell sort of bends time a little bit to make sure you aren't summoned away from one problem while you're working on another. So, I thought, if I summoned you, once in a while, at the very least you could get some guaranteed rest."

Cat was momentarily speechless. "You think it would really work?"

Marianne shrugged. "It's only a theory. But we could try."

"Right now?"

"Why not?"

Cat pulled Marianne close, briefly burying his nose in her sweet, earthy smelling hair. He really did hate the idea of having to leave just now. "All right. But I'm not letting go."

Marianne wrapped her arms around him and grinned. "Well, good, because neither am I." She leaned in and whispered in his ear,  _"Chrestomanci."_


End file.
